Newly acquired Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas captured the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors, becoming the first Boston player to earn the award since Jared Sullinger last season from Feb. 3-9, 2014.

Thomas edged Hawks forward Paul Millsap, Hornets teammates Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Mo Williams and Pacers guard George Hill for the award. Damian Lillard, who averaged 26 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds from Feb. 23 to March 1, earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who submitted the first winning month (7-4) of his career in February, was nominated for Eastern Conference Coach of the Month, but lost out to Pacers coach Frank Vogel for the honor.

Less than three weeks after beating the Eastern Conference-leading Hawks, the Celtics gave the West-leading Warriors all they could handle, establishing a 26-point first-half lead in front of a raucous home crowd before Golden State chipped away and crumbled their hosts, 106-101.

Once again, Isaiah Thomas ignited the C’s scoring effort with 20 points — missing a 3-pointer that would have tied the game in the final seconds — to go along with five assists in 29 minutes off the bench. Tyler Zeller’s 17 points led all five Celtics starters in double figures, followed by Brandon Bass (15 points, 12 rebounds), Avery Bradley (12 points), Marcus Smart (10 points) and Evan Turner (10 points). Jae Crowder added 17 rebounds and nine points off the bench.

Still, it wasn’t enough to overcome a Warriors team that owns the league’s best record (46-11) and features MVP favorite Stephen Curry, who netted 37 points to lead all scorers. Meanwhile, the Celtics drop to 23-34 and remain on the outside looking in on the East’s eighth and final playoff seed.

Since taking a 5-4 lead 1:55 into the game, the Celtics held the Warriors at bay longer than anyone expected, but it was only a matter of time since the league’s top-scoring team got back in the game. Over the course of 12 minutes from the end of the third quarter to late in the fourth — as Shaun Livingston gave them a spark off the bench, Green heated up and Curry remained on fire — Golden State outscored the Celtics 32-15 to grab their first lead since the opening minutes.

DEFENDING THEIR LIVES

If the Celtics have any hope of making the playoffs, it’ll be their improvement on the defensive end that will make the difference between a first-round series and a lottery pick. Six games after holding the Hawks to 42.3 percent shooting, the C’s held the Warriors to 42.1 percent — not an easy task two of the game’s most prolific shooters. Curry and Klay Thompson (20 points) were always going to get their points, but the C’s built their lead by holding Golden State’s frontcourt — Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, David Lee and Andre Iguodala — to combined 4-of-20 shooting in the opening 24 minutes. That’s especially impressive considering the Celtics are sans Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk.

Quite simply, Thomas has been a dominant offensive force during his Celtics tenure, anchoring a unit that scored 117.9 points per 100 possessions during his first four games in Boston. Even more impressive, he owns a usage rate of 35.4 percent, meaning more than a third of the C’s possessions are running through Thomas when he’s on the floor. His 58.2 true shooting percentage during that four-game stretch would rank among the NBA’s best guard over a full season. Sunday night was no different, as his 15 points before the break led a 65-point first-half for the Celtics. He cooled off in the second half, finishing just 8-of-21 from the field and missing eight of his 11 3-point attempts, but his presence remains a revelation.

JAE CROWDER IS THE C’S DRAYMOND GREEN

Granted, Green will receive a max contract on the restricted free agency market this summer and Crowder won’t command anywhere near that salary, but the two offer similar styles. Crowder has shown the ability to knock down the open 3-pointer, defend multiple positions on the other end and generally fill up the stat sheet across the board. Crowder’s outside shot wasn’t falling, as he made just 4-of-17 shots, but he finished with nine points, 17 rebounds, two assists and a block in 26 minutes off the bench — a Green-esque performance.

JONAS JEREBKO IS A STRETCH 5

The Celtics continued to play small-ball with great success, in large part because the Warriors didn’t have a center capable of making them pay defensively. That allows the C’s to space the floor offensively with Jerebko playing the five. His entrance coincided with an 18-5 run that helped the C’s establish the startling 26-point lead. Starting the second quarter alongside Thomas, Marcus Smart, James Young and Crowder, Jerebko knocked down his lone 3-point attempt while collecting four combined rebounds, blocks and steals — and finished a plus-11 in seven first-half minutes.

Don’t look now, but the Boston Celtics are making a playoff push ‘ and a strong one at that, having won seven of their last 10 games.

At the beginning of the season, if you had to pick the three best players on the Celtics, your answer probably would have been Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger. As we now know, Rondo and Green were sent packing, and Sullinger is out for the season with a stress fracture in his foot.

Enter the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko ‘ players that were on three separate rosters at the start of the season (none of which were the Celtics). The trio have been dominating games off the bench in Boston’s last two wins. We know the NBA has been trending towards ‘small ball’ lineups, but this unit often takes things to a whole new level.

Thomas is undersized for his matchup every night at just 5-foot-9, but plays far above his height in the sense that he is constantly comfortable battling in the paint. Crowder (typically a small forward) and Jerebko (a power forward) are each moved up to power forward and center in the new ‘small ball’ lineup. The other two positions are often filled by 6-foot-2 Avery Bradley and 6-foot-4 Marcus Smart. Like I said, a whole new level.

‘Well, with a two-game sample size I would say it’s been good, but I don’t know that we can determine if it’s good long-term or not,’ Brad Stevens said of his new lineup that he seemingly stumbled upon. ‘I think that the biggest thing for me has always been if you can find somebody with enough speed and skill that can guard above their size. Then you can create some havoc on the other side of the court, and that’s what Jae has done. Jae’s ability to guard the post has given us some options as we’ve been smaller here, and Jonas too. But we had to double Al [Jefferson] still and we had to do some of that stuff, but Jae did a great job on Al Jefferson. He did as good as anybody can.’

So what’s been the difference in the C’s recent success?

‘Isaiah Thomas,’ Bradley said without hesitation when asked what sparked the change in the team. ‘Not only him, Jae Crowder, I can go down the list. Everyone’s just buying in to what Brad’s trying to do and that’s team basketball.’

‘That’s pretty nice,’ Thomas then replied to Bradley’s compliment. ‘It’s not me, though, it’s just this team. We’re playing hard, coach is putting us in a position to be successful and that’s the big key. We’re believing in each other.’

Come April, team basketball could be something that carries the C’s to the playoffs ‘ something Bradley admitted has been a goal he’s thought about since the beginning of the season. Thomas concurred, admitting that Friday’s atmosphere felt much like a playoff game to him. Turns out Thomas might not have to wait as long as we thought to get his first taste of the postseason for real.

In an absolutely wild game, Isaiah Thomas (28 points), Jonas Jerebko (16), and Jae Crowder (14) led the Celtics to a 106-98 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. Forget starting the season on the roster, this newest Celtics trio — all acquired by midseason trade — didn’t even crack tonight’s starting lineup.

The Celtics overcame a 16-point deficit and a nine-minute stretch in which they were outscored 25-1. All five Hornets starters reached double figures, led by Mo Williams‘ 31 points. Avery Bradley also contributed 19 points for the Celtics, including two put-back dunks in the final minutes that sealed the game for the C’s.

The victory marks the third straight for the Celtics and seventh in their last 10, pulling them into a virtual three-way tie with Charlotte and the Indiana Pacers for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

In his first three games with the Celtics, Thomas averaged 20.3 points a game off the bench. While he is not the most efficient player (9-22 FG), he is the only player on the team with the ability to create his own shot, getting into the lane with ease. In the first half, the referees were reluctant to use their whistles, so Thomas’ aggressive drives ended in missed baskets or turnovers rather than free throws. In the second half, he continued his assault on the rim and got much better results, scoring 21 of his 28 points in the final 13 minutes. Thomas also dished out seven assists.

STEVENS GOES SMALL

With Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger both inactive, it was unclear who would step up on the Celtics’ frontline. Brad Stevens decided to go small, playing Jerebko at center and Crowder at the power forward down the stretch. The pair did an excellent job of containing Al Jefferson and Cody Zeller while limiting the Hornets’ points in the paint. Offensively, Jerebko and Crowder complemented Thomas quite nicely, making big plays in the pick-and-roll and knocking down a number of key 3-pointers. The pair combined for 30 points and 16 rebounds.

CELTICS ARE PLAYOFF CONTENDERS

There is currently a five-team race for the honor of being swept by the Hawks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Entering Friday’s game, the Celtics, Pacers and Pistons effectively trailed the Nets and Hornets by one game for the eighth seed. With the win, the C’s now own the exact same record as the Hornets (23-33) and are 1-2 in the season series. The two teams play for a final time in Charlotte on March 30.

MARCUS SMART STARTS HOT, QUICKLY COOLS

With Sullinger out for the rest of the regular season, Smart has assumed the role of last player announced during pregame introductions. The rookie guard responded well to the new honor and responsibility, making his first four shots and scoring 10 points in the opening quarter. Despite this hot start, Smart simply stopped shooting in the final three quarters. He missed his next three shots and was generally a non-factor offensively.

It didn’t matter which of the C’s many guards was trying to stop him, Williams was dominant. He finished with 31 points, including 13 in the third quarter. When Williams went to the bench towards the end of the third quarter, his team had an 11-point lead. When he returned with his team up one, he struggled to re-find his stroke. Williams did his best to keep the Hornets in the game, scoring seven in the final minutes, but was unable to match the effort of the new Big Three.